The Scissor Sisters have made quite a breakthrough this year, with their spunky retro music appealings to both gay and hetero cultures alike. The five piece band consists of mastermind and falsetto lead singer Jake Shears and three other gay men, along with the lone female member, Ana Matronic, who could pass for a drag queen. With their feel good disco/rock music, the band has helped put gay culture into the mainstream. The Sisters music has been compared to everyone from Elton John to Fisherspooner, but their main platform is for everyone to have fun. Since the release of their self titled album in July, these New Yorkers have been busily touring the world promoting it and now land in Chicago at The Vic for a sold out show.
The venue itself is medium sized and has enough room for one to abstain from claustrophobia. The denizens who come to a Scissor Sisters show are surprisingly mixed. First, there are the young gay men dressed nicely in tight Abercrombie shirts, then there are the young women wearing their punk attire, and finally straight 30-40 year old professionals who come to rock and smoke cigars.
The Christmas spirit was definitely in the air as one person who uncannily looked like Jesus showed up wearing a festive Santa robe. The show began at 8pm with the electronic/rock group from Lousiville, KY, VHS or Beta opening. Their music is an amalgam of The Cure or Oingo Boingo except they sound like a mediocre cover band. They played their pulsating beats for almost an hour, one song after the next that all sounded the same. People talked, drank spirits and were merry as they anticipated the ultimate event that would be Scissor Sisters. After a substantial break from the ending of VHS or Beta’s set, the Sisters finally hit the stage in all their glory, which included glam costumes and vivid colored blinking lights in the background. They appeared and immediately started singing the first track off their album, the funky “Laura,” to a jovial, albeit drunk crowd. Shears pranced around in his glittery pants and jacket sans shirt underneath as Ana sang along next to him. The song ended and Ana Matronic cooed to the audience: “Have you seen anything good on TV,” referring to their previous night appearance on Saturday Night Live. She then joked about host Colin Farrell being gay. Ana and Jake bantered back and forth for what seemed like a long time until it was revealed they were experiencing technical difficulties with the lights or something. The problem was fixed and the band continued with their rockin’ “Tits on the Radio” and the George Michael-esque “Lovers in the Backseat.”
Even though Shears is the lead singer of the group, it’s more like Ana’s show as she stole the limelight to entertain witty and vulgar comments between songs such as: “This is a church of music, love and beauty…there’s only one prerequisite at this church though–to shake your ass.” I have to commend them for their connection to the audience, always talking and giving the fans what they want with an equal admiration, never appearing haughty. The crowd cheered as the Sisters segued into their dance cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” that recently garnered the group their first Grammy nomination. A mirror ball spun around the room against blinking white and blue lights as Jake and Ana danced and sang. Bassist Babydaddy and guitarist Del Marquis were enjoyable to watch as they riffed on their own respective instruments. The band exuded a captivating and lively stage presence that sometimes could be quite electrifying because of their infinite energy.
Midway through the show, I grew slightly bored. I wasn’t able to recognize some of their songs, they weren’t playing my favorite tune, “Take Your Mama Out,” and the audience kept talking through the slow songs. Pungent scents of cigarettes and cigars wafted throughout the room that led me to the thought I may indeed get cancer here tonight. I had heard the Scissor Sisters put a lot of effort into making their shows very visual, kinda like a burlesque show or theatre production, but I waited for the advent of something more extravagant that never came, thus it made me slightly disappointed. Even the dance movements themselves seemed random–not choreographed like I had imagined. Between songs Ana screamed: “Are you ready to get nasty?” and the upbeat “Filthy/Gorgeous” played as the audience responded with dancing and yelling proving this was their favorite song as strobe light incessantly flashed along with the beats. They probably have performed this song hundreds of times, but they make it seem fresh and alive. The number ended and the group was once again faced with another technical difficulty. In a spontaneous moment, the glib Ana began to sing the theme song to the show “The Golden Girls” as the rest of the band joined in to what became an unexpected comical highlight of the show. The problem was fixed and the group moved on to the earnest and slow “Return to Oz.”
The show supposedly ended as the group disbanded and walked off the stage. I’ll never understand why bands invented this concept of pretending to end a show knowing full well they will immediately return for an extended encore. A couple of minutes passed and Jake appeared solo to sing the ethereal electro tune, “It Can’t Come Quick Enough” showcasing his strong vocal range. Just like their innovative cover of “Comfortably Numb,” the Sisters also recorded a unique version of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out.” The rest of the band reappeared to perform their lounge rendition of the usually raucous tune breeding new life into the previous boring songs. Scissor Sisters saved the best for last with their final song of the night, “Take Your Mama Out;” the audience sang along and Del Marquis jammed with an intense and rockin’ guitar solo. The show ends, but not before Ana made an important announcement about how they received an email about a man wanting to propose to his girlfriend at the show. Ana asks the woman for the guy and the woman accepts the proposal ending the evening on a romantic note. The Scissor Sisters may be the ephemeral band of the moment, a novelty act if you will, but at least they look like they have as much fun as the audience, living right in the moment and basking in the warm glow while it lasts.
